This game will determine ... Whether Samford moves up to the No. 3 seed in the North Division or stays No. 4 for next week's Southern Conference tournament.

Two things to look for:
1. Turnovers bad; takeaways good. In Samford's 68-56 win over App State at the Pete Hanna Center in January, the Bulldogs capitalized on 17 Mountaineer turnovers while coughing it up just nine times. In Thursday night's 65-58 loss at Western Carolina, the Bulldogs had 22 turnovers - their second-highest total since 24 in the season-opener vs. Belmont.

2. Motivational mismatch? Thursday's loss meant Samford had lost its outside shot at finishing second in the division and getting a bye in the first round of the tournament. If Appalachian State beats the Bulldogs, Samford will be the fourth seed and the Mountaineers could claim the No. 2 seed with a Western Carolina loss to Chattanooga.

Key matchup:
Brian Friday/Andy King vs. bouncing back. Friday, the Bulldogs' leading scorer, didn't attempt a shot and had three turnovers in 13 minutes on Thursday while King was 0-for-1 from the floor and turned it over four times. Friday and King need to get back to their reliable selves to steal a win on the road.

By the numbers:
11 - The number of Samford road losses in 14 tries this season.

Noteworthy
A Samford win means the Bulldogs play Furman on Friday at 8:30 p.m. while a loss sends them against Georgia Southern at 1 p.m. Point guard Trey Montgomery scored a career-high 25 points vs. App State in the teams' first ever meeting with 17 in the second half. In Thursday's loss, only four Samford players scored after five had scored in double figures against Western Carolina in January.